Apparatus for sealing containers



J. CLEMENT July 1, 1-958 APPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 9'. 1956 INVENTOR. Jf CZ //f/\/7 J. CLEMENT APPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS July 1, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 9, 1956 I llHllll ll I III]! INVENTOR. CLfMfA/T' ATTORNEY July 1, 1958 J. CLEMENT 2,840,968

I APPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS Filed March 9, 1956 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. J55; C4 ENE/V7 TTORNEY United States Patent i APPARATUS FOR SEALING CONTAINERS Joel Clement, Bassillac, France, assignor to La Cellophane, Paris, France, a corporation of France Application March 9, 1956, Serial No. 570,529

Claims priority, application France March 10, 1955 3 Claims. (Cl. 53-198) This invention relates to a manually controlled apparatus for sea-ling containers with an adhesive tape.

An object of the present invention is to provide a machine for sealing containers with pressure sensitive tape, which tape may be transparent, colored and/ or printed and has attached thereto a rip cord having one end free, which may consist of cellulosic film, thread, ribbon, or other material. The end of the said up cord can readily be gripped and, by reason of slits formed on each side thereof, it can be used to tear the adhesive tape along the plane in which the cover and the container body are joined without completely removing the adhesive tape.

An embodiment of the invention, as illustrated by Figs. 1, 2 and 3 on the accompanying sheets, will hereafter be described by way of example.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the machine as seen from the right;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view thereof; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are sections taken on the lines 4-4 and 55 respectively of Fig. 3 showing details of the cams.

O11 depression of pedal 1 pivotally connected to shaft 2, a rod 3 rocks a lever 4, pivotally connected to a rod 6, thus lifting abutment 7 and releasing the container 8 which was sealed in the preceding cycle. On lifting of the abutment 7, a pin 11 pivotally connected to a stud 12, which is attached to the member 4, passes over a cam 13 and is forced into position by a spring 14. The op. erator then removes this sealed container and places another container on a disc 17 against a U-shaped abutment 18, by which it is appropriately centered.

When the pedal 1 is released, the mechanism above described is returned by a spring 19 and the abutment 17 bears on the container top 8 to hold it in position.

The pin 11, which has passed over the cam 13, now on its return, operates the latter in such a manner that cam 13 which is attached to a shaft 20, which in turn carries a cam 21, causes a roller 22 to drop in the depression 23 of the cam 21.

A roll of adhesive tape 26 is mounted on an unwinding spindle 27. The tape, which is unwound at 28, is wound onto a pressure roller 29 and is maintained thereon by a member 30.

This assembly is mounted on a support plate 31 pivotally connected to a rod 32 and is maintained in a predetermined position with the roller 22 by the cam 21 by the aid of a tension spring 33.

A roll of rip cord 36 is mounted on a support 37 which is secured on the main frame as shown in Fig. 1. The rip cord is unwound at 38, passes over a guide roller 39,

, 2,840,968 Patented July 1, 1958 continues to unwind at 40, and passes through apertures into the member 30, which guides it in such a manner that it is appropriately stuck on the adhesive tape at 41.

A cam and a sprocket 46 are fixedly mounted on the shaft 20, on which the arm 13 and cam 21 are also fixedly mounted. When the pin 11 turns the arm 13 upon release of the foot pedal it causes the roller 22 to drop to the bottom 23 of the cam 21, the cam 45 has performed a small angle of rotation which releases push buttons 47 of a container 48, which closes the circuit of a reduction motor 49 driving a worm Wheel 50 on which a sprocket 50a is keyed. Sprockets 51 and 54 are connected by a connecting rod 53, which converts the continuous circular movement of the sprocket 51 into a reciprocating circular movement of the sprocket 54. The sprocket 54 transmits its movement through a chain 55 to a sprocket 56. The sprocket 56 is attached to a shaft 57 which, in its tape applying motion, transmits the movement through a ratchet 58 to abevel gear 59. The bevel gear 59 meshes with a bevel wheel 60 secured to a shaft 61 supporting the disc 17. The ratio of the various gears is such that the disc 17 makes one complete revolution per cycle. When at the commencement of the cycle the roller 22 falls to the bottom of the cam 21 at 23, the roller 29 applies the end of the adhesive tape 26 against the body and cover of the container 8.

In its rotational movement, the plate 17 carries with it the container 8, to which has been applied the end of the adhesive tape with the rip cord. When the disc 17 completes one revolution, the container is entirely sealed.

The sprocket 56, in its return movement, transmits movement to a sprocket 71 through a ratchet (in the opposite direction to the ratchet 58). The latter transmits movement through a chain 72 to the sprocket 46. The ratio of the sprockets is such that the shaft 20 together with the sprocket 46 makes one revolution less the angle determined by the pin 11 on the arm 13 controlled by the pedal 1. 1

In its rotation, the shaft 20 turns the cam 21, a knife 76, two piercing members 77 and a flexible pressure member 78. When the knife reaches the position for cutting the adhesive tape, the cam 21, through the roller 22, removes the applying assembly from the pressure device 29, 30, 31 in order to provide clearance for the cutting device 7 6, 77, 78.

The two piercing members 77 makes an incision on each side of the rip cord so as to produce the free end. The knife 76 then severs the adhesive tape and rip cord and the pressure member 78 completes the application of the adhesive tape to the container 8.

At the end of the movement, a boss 80 of the cam 45 bears on the push button 47 of the contactor to break the circuit of the motor 49 and thus stop the machine after one complete cycle.

It is to be understood that the example given is in no way limitative but includes any modification in the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for applying a sealing tape to a container comprising a container support, means mounting said support to rotate about a fixed axis, releasable means for securing a container on said support, drive means to rotate said support, a movable sealing head to apply a sealing tape to the rotating container, manual means to be advanced to release said securing means to permit a sealed container to be removed from said support and a second 3 container to be inserted thereon and to be retracted to restore said securing means to holding position, means initiated by retraction of said manual means to advance said sealing head to apply the sealing tape to said container and to energize said drive means for rotating said container so as to wrap said sealing tape therearound.

2. In an apparatus as set forth in claim 1, a knife to sever said tape, and means actuated by said drive means to retract said sealing head and to advance said knife to sever said tape after a complete rotation of said container.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 having spring loaded means to normally maintain said securing means ,4 in container securing position, said manual means being connected to retract and release said spring loaded means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,976,971 Thom Oct. 16, 1934 2,272,407 Heckman Feb. 10, 1942 2,731,778 Loufek Jan. 24, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 473,152 Canada Apr. 24, 1951 

